Plough Quarterly: Breaking ground for a renewed world.
Plough, a magazine disseminated online, as a podcast and quarterly in print covers matters of faith, arts and culture from a wide range of excellent writers. It's one of my favourite publications in the whole world.
It was therefore a real excitement to be approached by the editorial team at Plough in 2021 to begin work on some illustrations for a pending rebrand.
These carvings all depict something of the Kingdom of Heaven as described by Christ in the gospels; a city, a light, a great branching tree.
Saint Swithun and the Water Dowser: Linocut for research project about plants, seasons, art and ritual practice.
In 2022 I was asked by Fred Hubble, a Birmingham-based artist who has exhibited around the country, to produce a linocut illustration incorporating many of the themes from his phd research.
Many of Fred's themes; land, ritual practice and folk tradition have a fair amount of overlap with my practice, so working on this illustration in collaboration was a very rewarding experience.
The Planting of a Fig Tree: Linocut illustration for a photobook about the Cypriot diaspora in the Midlands.
2022 saw the release of The Planting of a Fig Tree, a photobook edition from Birmingham-based publisher Out Of Place, which featured images from photographer Chris Neophytou exploring how Birmingham's Cypriot communities were navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have appreciated Chris' work for a while, and so it was a privilege to be able to illustrate a fig tree for the cover of the book, printed on a beautiful stock from G.F. Smith papers.
The fig tree is a common sight in Cyprus and an important symbol for the transplanting of the diaspora in the UK. The design for this linocut is intended to play on the artistic links between the two ancient extremes of Christendom; the distinctive but coeval traditions of icon painting and manuscript illumination.
Minor Monuments: Linocut illustrations for a poetry anthology.
In early 2018, the poet Huw Evans asked me to illustrate a front cover and four title pages for Minor Monuments; an anthology of poetry.
As well as being an excellent poet, Huw had a keen interest in archaeology, particularly relating to the west coast of Wales. I was commissioned to produce a cover inspired by the burial cairns at Carneddau Hengwm, as well as illustations to introduce each chapter – a map of Ardudwy; the severed head of Brân the Blessed, a king and hero of Welsh mythology; a bed of fossilised oysters from France, and a memento mori featuring a candle, some leatherbound books and a skull.
Though Huw’s poetry greatly flatters my prints, they share a similar spirit – ancient and earthy, mythical and visceral.
The Creative City: Erdington Gargoyles for the Birmingham Design Festival.
In 2021, Birmingham Design Festival invited 100 local artists to design posters inspired by 'The Creative City'.
I carved the weathered corbel heads from my parish church, which was burned in an arson attack in 2007. Displayed in colours from BDF’s vibrant palette, they call to mind (despite the significant scepticism of outsiders) the lively and creative spirit of Erdington and the Second City.
Coffee Wizards: A linocut logo for Birmingham's best new roastery.
During the height of the inital 2020 lockdown I was approached by the folk at Under Pressure Espresso, one of the finest coffee shops on the north side of the city, to design a logo for the launch of their new coffee roasters.
The team had liked the look of some of the medieval woodcuts I had been reproducing and wanted a design in a similar style depicting a prototypical wizard with a staff in the shape of a portafilter.
The design appears on each bag of the exceptional coffee produced by the roasters, and has also been transferred onto stickers and t-shirts that you can pick up from the storefront in Sutton Coldfield.
No Go Press: Original logo for an independent photography publisher.
No Go Press is a recently established independent publisher based in the West Midlands, focused on publishing zines full of urban photography.
No Go requested a original logo depicting an urban scavenger, with the name of the press incorporated into the design.
The result was this leaping fox, reminiscent of the Hound of Saint Dominic, brandishing the letter N in its mouth.